​

​

Wildlife & Natural History Documentaries

scored by Ben Mowat

Music for Wildlife & Natural History

When conveying compelling narrative of the natural world through film, music is an essential element.

Ben Mowat has scored several short documentariescovering conservation and human/natural world issues. The environment and nature are subjects close to his heart and an area which can bring great purpose to film music. Ben also has a wildlife documentary style Library Music album published in 2020 by Radio France Internationale Instrumentals.

Drama Short Film: Respite

A drama short by Vanessa Heron, shot on Vancouver Island, Canada in 2018/19. The film is about a young woman, Lola (Marisa Vieira), who struggles with the angst of being stalked in the small town she works and lives in. Her attention is swayed when a handsome new guy in town comes to her defence, but it leads her to a predicament almost worse than before. Lola savours the moments of respite she experiences through her love of nature and photography.

Film Noir Pastiche Short: The Black Widow

Finished in 2015, The Black Widow is the film maker Mark Graham's idea of a prequel to The Maltese Falcon. An amateur film project which partly helped Ben Mowat obtain a place on the MA programme in Composition for Film & TV at Bristol University, whilst Mark Graham went on to study special effects. Ben Mowat created a mid-20th century "Film Noir" style orchestral soundtrack inspired by the likes of Max Steiner, Bernard Herman and English composer Frederick Delius. The music is performed by a high quality sample based orchestra which Ben programmed and produced.

​

The special effects in this film are also quite remarkable, with music of the film shot in front of green screen and the actors not always in the same room. The 1930s office in which Sam, the main character works was actually created as a miniature model inside a cardboard box! Humphrey Bogart himself then makes a cameo appearance, as does Ben Mowat although unlike Humphrey, he didn't need to be rotoscoped and sampled from various 1940s films.

Reporters : Brexit, tous dans le même bâteau

Music for rolling news channel, France24

Reporters: Brexit, a sea of uncertainty for fishermen

Music for France24

In autumn 2018 Ben Mowat worked with France24 journalist Claire Paccalin to produce some bespoke Library Music tracks which she used during a series of reports on the effects of Brexit on the fishing industry.

​

These reports were both broadcast on France24 and published on YouTube.

​

One of the tracks is a collaboration, using a riff by guitarist Jack Williams.

Current Affairs & Documentary

scored by Ben Mowat

Current Affairs/Activism Documentary:

Rojava: A Call to Arms

Music in the second half of this film is by Ben Mowat, from 5:08.

​

This short documentary by Richard Moyse tells the story of a man from Bristol who went to Syria to fight with Kurdish militia, the YPG, against ISIS. It brings awareness of the YPG's and the women's army, the YPJ's struggle, the suffering of the Kurdish people and those who have paid the ultimate price. ​

Branded as terrorists by the Turkish government for political reasons, the YPG/YPJ and Kurdish people are caught in the middle of a proxy war between Russia and the USA taking place in Syria. The situation is complex and ongoing.

In May 2017, Charlie left everything behind to go and fight against ISIS in Rojava, Kurdistan, a Middle Eastern utopia based on the notions of feminism and equality.

Charlie recalls what it is like to be at war with ISIS and takes us to an outpost in the battle of Raqqa, ISIS’ capital. As Charlie re-adapts to ordinary British life, his comrades in Syria are still fighting and paying the price. But if the price is high, so are the stakes.